Police investigating David Walliams over reports alleging serious sexual offences

The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into David Walliams over reports of "alleged serious sexual offences". It comes after ITV News and the Guardian published reports alleging that Walliams had been accused of sexual misconduct by several women.

The Met said that the allegations being investigated are separate from those reported by ITN and The Guardian, but as "part of their investigation, detectives are also proactively reviewing that reporting to establish whether there is any evidence of offences". In a statement released on Friday, the Met said it had "received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s".

Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney said: "We would encourage anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to come forward and speak to us, no matter when it happened.